Lesson Plans

Students will analyze the bond energy of the reactants and products in a chemical reaction.  Students will develop a model to illustrate how the changes in total bond energy determine whether the reaction is endothermic or exothermic.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Magnets are fun to play with, but how can we use magnets to improve our lives?  In this lesson, students explore magnets to determine their strength, polarity, and how they attract and repel each other.  Then they use the engineering design process to create inventions that use magnets to accomplish a task.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

In this inquiry-based lesson, students will investigate how rainfall changes the land and causes runoff.  The students will simulate a stream table to show how rainfall erodes the land.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will describe features shown on topographic maps as they plan a route for a bicycle race around the school neighborhood.  First, they will create clay mountains and learn how to make topographic maps of their landforms.  Then they will interpret topographic maps made by other students in the class to match each mountain to its map.  Finally, they will use topographic maps of the school campus to plan an exciting but safe bike race route.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will consider the marketing campaigns of Gatorade to help identify what makes a substance an electrolyte.  Students will plan and conduct an investigation to test common ionic and covalent substances to determine if the substance is an electrolyte or non-electrolyte when dissolved in solution.  

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

During this lesson, the students will learn how matter transfers within an ecosystem and within the environment

*This lesson can be taught over a two-day period. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

In this lesson children will investigate 6 major pollutants in our world and how they can be eliminated or limited.

This lesson is a continuation of the other Are We Our Own Worst Enemy? lesson plans. It can stand on its own but if you haven't taught the others you may want to show the World Population Over Time video before starting this lesson.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

After researching the formation of each type of rock, students use the evidence from knowledge of the rock cycle to write a story about a pet rock. The story will include the rock changing from magma to each type of rock including igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Students will present their pet rock story to the class.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students research and create a brochure project on an endangered species of their choice integrating aspects of math, science, social studies, art, reading and writing. This project allows the students to make connections across the curriculum. Students present their ideas to a group of peers persuading the group to help save or become interested in helping the endangered species. Students are also encouraged to make connections between the activities of the human population and their effect on the natural world. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the second part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students explore the structure of plants, and the parts that provide stability. They choose from different materials to construct a house that is sturdy (like the stem) and has a foundation (like the roots). Students test the strength of their design to determine which elements/materials provide increased stability.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the third part of a series, "Solutions from Nature."  In this lesson, students examine outer parts of animals that provide protection (turtles, crabs, pill bugs, snails, etc.).  They choose from different materials to construct a “helmet” that can protect an egg from breaking if it is dropped.    

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This module was authored by the Auburn University NanoBio MSP Fellows Will Haynes, Hannah Taylor, and Catherine Wolfe under the review and guidance of Drs. Virginia Davis and Chris Schnittka. This lesson is about compounds, mixtures, and solutions and relating those to synthetics, with the focus being plastics. This lesson focuses on how plastics are made and the negative impacts of some plastics. It goes on to explain how the addition of nanoscale particles can be the solution for these problems. This lesson includes a lecture and a hands-on activity where the students are creating plastic from the milk protein casein. 

First, students will view an engaging video about the recent arrival of the New Horizons spacecraft at Pluto. Students will create a sketch of the solar system to show their current understanding of the relative sizes and distances of the objects in our solar system. Students will then scale the diameters of the Sun, eight main planets, and Pluto, as well as the planets' distances from the Sun. Students will be required to utilize mathematical skills, such as division, rounding, and metric system conversions. After scaling the diameters and orbits of the objects in our solar system, students will create a scaled model of the solar system using a roll of toilet paper.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will complete a data table using authentic tide predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Next, students will use their data table to create a line graph that will show the relationship between the tidal range and moon phases. Lastly, students will analyze their graph to explain how the occurrence of ocean tides is related to the moon's phases. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

In this lesson, students will explore the practice of hiding secret messages within text or data known as steganography.  Students will compare advantages and disadvantages of different techniques of steganography.  Students will create their own secret code to communicate with each other.  Students will create a digital form of steganography with their group.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

The students will observe the weather over a five-day period. After observing the local weather, the students will record their observations. The students will use their five senses to observe and record the local weather.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will begin this inquiry-based lesson by accessing their prior knowledge of the positive and negative effects of the sun's energy. Students will be introduced to the concept of space weather, including cosmic radiation and coronal mass ejections, by watching a video clip from the National Science Foundation. Students will use a dipole bar magnet and iron filings to develop a model of Earth's magnetic field. Students will apply their experience from this inquiry to explain how Earth's magnetic field can protect us from space weather.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will begin this lesson by accessing their prior knowledge on Earth's natural resources through a brainstorming activity. The teacher will introduce the topic of fossil fuels, which are non-renewable resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas. The teacher will lead students in utilizing the jigsaw literacy strategy, in which students will become members of a home group and an expert group as they research and discuss their assigned topic. This lesson will culminate with students creating a presentation in the form of a research paper, poster, or slideshow to demonstrate their knowledge of the distribution and creation of fossil fuels.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will begin this inquiry-based activity by predicting how the continents of Earth could move over time. Next, students will complete a lab activity in collaborative groups, in which they will create a model showing how Earth's internal heat energy can create convection currents that result in plate movements. Lastly, students will use their model to explain how Earth's tectonic plates move over millions of years.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

How does light affect sight?  In this lesson, students will observe how light reflects off objects and into the eye so we can see.  They will learn how the pupil controls the amount of light entering the eye, how we perceive color by sensing different wavelengths of light, and why objects look different in bright and dim light.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Codes are used to transmit messages.  We may use codes to keep our messages secret from people who do not know the code, or we may use them to change one type of information into another.  The key to decoding a message is knowing the rule to crack the code.  In this lesson, students will explore different types of codes, create coded messages, and apply rules to decode messages. 

This lesson provides the background needed for students to then develop their own method for transferring information.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Matter is not created nor destroyed; it simply changes from one form to another.  This law of conservation of mass challenges elementary students’ ideas about matter, because many children may think that matter is created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.  In this lesson, students will challenge their preconceptions about matter by experimenting with physical and chemical changes to determine that the total weight of the matter does not change. Students will use math to show that the total weight of matter is equal to the sum of the weight of its component parts, and they will graph this information to show that the weight of matter is conserved during physical and chemical changes.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

The students will create a communication device using everyday resources. The students will explain how vibration is used to create sound and sound waves.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

The students will create a layered lookbook, which displays recorded information that explains that living things do exist in different places. The students will create a multimedia project, which will retell information learned about living things in different places. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA

Matter is made of particles too small to be seen.  But if we can’t see these particles, how do we know they exist?  In this lesson, students will plan and carry out investigations with air and simple solutions to provide evidence that all types of matter are made of tiny particles that are invisible to the human eye.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

The majority of Earth's surface is covered by water, but only a small percentage of this water is freshwater.  In this lesson, students will learn where saltwater and freshwater are found.  Then they will use models to show the distribution of different types of water in different reservoirs and depict this information using bar graphs and pie charts.  Finally, they will use their data as evidence to support the idea that freshwater should be conserved.

This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

This is an inquiry-based lesson that allows students to investigate how vibrations of matter can create sound and that sound can make matter vibrate. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This is an inquiry-based lesson that allows the students to create a string telephone to investigate how sound can be used to communicate over a given distance.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

The students will work together to design a magnetic system that can float from one point to another. The students will design a graphic organizer showing the sequence and steps needed to design a Maglev Train system by applying a scientific understanding of the forces between interacting magnets.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

In this activity, the students will be engineers who compete to create their own "safe" and fast free fall ride.  Using graphing and calculations, the students will calculate the fastest ride and determine the minimum and maximum passenger sizes that their ride will hold.  The team that designs the fastest ride that doesn't "hurt" the passenger(s) wins! 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

How can a tree grow in the middle of a field if no one planted it there?  In this lesson, students will work to find out the answer to this question by learning how seeds are dispersed.  Students will observe different types of seeds and see how they sometimes "hitch a ride" in or on animals to travel great distances.  Finally, they will use the engineering design process to make models of animals that help disperse seeds.  

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will use weather data to construct charts and graphs of temperatures in their city in different seasons.  Then they will use this data as evidence to determine which temperatures are typical for each season.  Finally, they will research average seasonal temperatures for another U.S. city and compare the data to that of their own city in order to determine which city would be the best vacation spot on a given date.  Students will justify their explanations based on temperature data and the desired vacation activities.  

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This inquiry-based lesson allows students to explore how our bodies use our voluntary and involuntary nervous systems to make our bodies function. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This is an inquiry-based lesson that allows the students to investigate how an animal's color affects its chances of survival in its environment.  Students will explore evidence needed to explain the cause-and-effect relationship between an animal's coloring and its effect on the individual's ability to survive.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

In this lesson, students investigate photosynthesis through hands-on experiments, videos, and discussion of text. They work in small groups with picture cards to create a chart showing how plants transform carbon dioxide, water, and light energy into carbohydrates and oxygen. After working collaboratively, students will create their own diagrams of photosynthesis. Because plant observations must occur over time, this lesson will take several days to complete.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.